In the operation of computers, it may be necessary to perform a trace of an application when issues arise in operation, such as when the application is not performing correctly or excessive memory is being consumed. For example, an incorrect result may be provided by the application, the application may require excessive execution time or memory consumption, or the application may otherwise provide operate in an inadequate manner. The result provided by the computer application isn't always helpful in determining what may have occurred in the operation of the computer application. In such circumstances, a performance trace will record the activities of the system during the operation of the application, which may assist in identifying the source of the problem.
However, in certain environments the operation of the application may be shared among various different system elements. In a specific example, the computer application may be shared in multiple nodes of a cluster of servers, with the cluster of servers appearing to the user as a single server in operation. In order to perform a trace of the full operation of the computer application, the operations that occur on each relevant system need to be traced.
In additional to other issues, the implementation of a performance trace on multiple nodes of a cluster requires the notification of each node to enable the tracing operation on each such node. The enablement of multiple nodes can create a burden on system administration, which may not be able to easily or efficiently access each node for the purpose of enabling the trace through the cluster of servers.